Sharing the Good News of Christ: A Look at Jesus with the Woman at the Well
The Lord has been burdening my heart recently regarding the need to be purposeful about sharing the good news of Christ with others. There is much going on in our world today that is causing people to take pause and think about larger issues, to think about why we’re here, and to consider God. With the economy the way it is, people for whom life was going just fine a few years ago, may now be ready to cry out in desperation to God. And we need to be ready for the harvest. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (NIV, Matt. 9:37-38) The Lord is calling us to be ready for the harvest.
As people cry out for God—sometimes loud cries and sometimes silent cries, we need to be ready to give them hope; we need to be ready to share the good news of Christ. I’d like to look at Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John 4 to see what we can learn from our Lord and Savior regarding reaching out to the lost.
First, Jesus was willing to break down human barriers to share the gospel. Jesus “had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4); he purposefully wanted to deal with the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. He also was willing to share the gospel with a woman, which definitely caught her attention. Jesus was willing to “associate” with people different from him in order to share the good news.
In John 4:10, Jesus said to the woman, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” When sharing with others, we need to approach them with a positive message that we have a precious gift. Matthew 10:8 says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Through the powerful influence of our testimony, we can freely give Jesus Christ to others. Jesus said, “Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand.” God’s Kingdom is good! It brings a life-giving order to individuals and families that align their lives with the Word of God and ultimately produces wholeness, right relationships, and God’s blessing.
As Jesus continued to share with the woman at the well, he discerned that the woman was living a life of sin. (The man she was presently living with was not her husband.) Coupled with the fact that the woman was visiting a community gathering place (the well) by herself, we can surmise that she was experiencing the effects of sin. She was very likely dealing with serious rejection. (She had had five husbands.) And so as we share with others, we can remember that people in our society are dealing with much rejection and family dysfunction. Ultimately when people see that we care, they desire to go beyond a surface existence of casual conversation to dealing with real issues. So many people have buried tremendous hurts in their lives. Deep down they are hurting, but as we share compassionately with them, Christ can heal them.
As the woman at the well did, sometimes people we witness to will get uncomfortable and try to change the subject or even start making a religious argument. The woman said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:20). Jesus refused to take the bait. He refused to let a potential argument distract him from his purpose of sharing his life and grace with this woman. He didn’t focus on arguing this religion over that religion; rather he talked about being true worshippers who worship the Father in spirit and truth. In other words, he encouraged the woman by telling her that she could have an open and honest relationship with God. And this person—Jesus Christ—would never reject her. He would be faithful to her.
For us as we’re sharing with others, we can encourage them that they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many people believe that there is a God “out there” like this woman did, but do they know God? So when people try to engage us in this kind of religious argument, in compassion we can keep our focus on sharing the good news and encouraging others that they can know God—they can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ—one that is not dependent on their works, or a bunch of do’s and don’t’s, but on the grace and love of God.
At some point we need to share the truth of Jesus Christ. Jesus shared that he was the Christ. We need to trust the Holy Spirit’s leading to open our mouths and allow the words “Jesus Christ” to come out. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. People only come to the Father through him. We need to show care and compassion; at the same time, we ultimately must share the truth of Jesus Christ.
The woman became so excited at this good news that she left her water jar and went back to the town to tell others. The gospel spread to many others! Because of one victory, many more became saved through Jesus Christ! And with our sharing, we need to remember that one saved person could result in whole families, whole offices, whole neighborhoods, whole tribes and nations coming to the Lord!
Meanwhile Jesus’ disciples came back after getting some food; they had seen her talking with this woman and then encouraged him to eat. Jesus proceeded to tell them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Jesus, of course, knew the principle that we can all experience: that when we purposefully live our lives to do his will—namely, to share the good news of Christ and to make disciples—that this is the food that sustains and nourishes us. We are filled—fulfilled—as we share Christ to make disciples that follow Him.
Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” I encourage you to live your life with your eyes wide open to the fields—with your eyes wide open to the people in your life—and be purposeful and caring enough to open up your life, share your testimony, and share the good news of Christ with others!
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